Car-coupling



(No Model.)

C. EPPS.

CAR COUPLING.

No. 557,502.. Patented Mar. 31, 1896.

/7/ TIG. l. --F

f/ T l NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EPPS, CF MCKINNEY, TEXAS.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,502, dated March31, 1896.

Application iiled August 3,1894- Rellewed September 9, 1895. Serial No.562,015. (No model.)

To all wtom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES EPPs, a citizen of the United States,residing at McKinney, in the county of Collin and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

, ing broken away; and Fig. '3 represents a central longitudinal sectionof the car and coupler.

The carrier-iron and various other fixtures attached to the car forsupporting and holding the draw-bar, not being a part of my invention,are omitted from the drawings.

A represents the body of the car, which carries beneath the same adraw-bar B, which is secured to the car in any convenient way. Thisdraw-bar is provided with a circular recess in the forward end thereof,adapted to receive the pivoted end of the draw-head C, which end is heldbetween the jaws bo by means of the pivot-pin D. Above these jaws thedraw-bar B is provided with vertical walls or faces B and b'.

The draw-head C is provided with a vertical wall or face c and aninclined wall or face c, the former bringing up against the wall Z) whenthe draw-head is in the horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 3, and thelatter, c', being adapted to allow the draw-head C to swing downwardabout its pivot below the horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2. Thefront end of the draw-head is provided with a fiaring mouth co, behindwhich is an enlarged quadrantal chamber c5, enlarged laterally somewhat,as at c, to allow the link E to enter freely therein. The upper end ofthis chamber opens through the top of the drawhead, as shown at c4,while the lower end ter- This bell-crank lever is drawn backward bymeans of the chain K, which passes beneath the guide k on the top of thedraw-head and is made fast to the cam M, rigidly attached to thelifting-rod P, which rod is pivoted to the front of the car, as at p,and is provided with hand-levers p at either side of the car.

It will be evident that if the rod P be turned so as to cause the chainK to wind up ou the cam M, then the bell-crank lever II will lift thecoupling-pin F out of engagement with the link E, which will be theprocess of uncoupling one car from another.

S is a spring of sufficient force to hold the draw-head normally in ahorizontal position; but since the height of the couplings on variouscars frequently differs relative to the track-bed it is frequentlydesirable to make some adjustment of the relative positions of themouths of two draw-heads, so that the link may enter fairly when thecars come together. For this purpose I have made the draw-head pivotedhorizontally, as shown and supported normally in the horizontal positionby means of the spring S.

In order to deiiect the draw-head downward, as shown in Fig. 2, Iprovide a bar R, secured by means of the chains r and staple r' to thedraw-head C, the upper end of the said bar R being pivoted to the arm Qon the lifting-bar P and also to the lower portion T2 of the rod T,lwhich is bent forward, as at T', and passes upward to the top of thecar through the guides f. This bar may be lifted either by a handle t',as shown in Fig. 8, or by a lever U, pivoted at u in the frame V,secured to the top of the car and having a handle u for operating thesame. It will be seen that if the handle u be raised upward, or if thehandle t' be pushed downward, the barRwill drag the front end of thedraw-head downward against the action of the spring S, as shown in Fig.2. It will be obvious that at the same time the arm Q will be forceddownward, thus relaxing the chain K and preventing the coupling frombecoming drawn IOO upward as the front end of the draw-head descends. Itwill also be noted that the drawhead may be depressed by moving eitherone of the hand-levers p", as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the arm Q isvcaused to force down the bar R and the draw-head connected thereto.rlhus it will be seen that a forward motion of either of thesehand-levers p will servo to ti ghtcn` the chain l( and lift thecoupling-pin, at the same time lifting the bar R and slacliening thechain r, thus not affecting the horizontal position of the draw-head.()n the. other hand, it will be seenthat a backward motion oi' eitherone of the arms p will slacken the chain K and will press down on Vlirebar R, tautening the chain lr and forcing down the front end of thedraw-head against the action of the spring S. It will also be noticedthat if the handle 'zt be pressed down, or the handle t be lifted up,then the coupling-pin may be lifted from the top of the ear.

v Thus, it will be seen that the herein-described apparatus enablestrain-hands to operate the coupling-pin from the top, or from eitherside olf the ear, and the saine conditions also prevail with regard todepressing or releasing the pivotcd draw-head.

The various advantages of the herein-dcscribcd construction will readilysuggest themselves to any one skilled in the art.

llaving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

'1. In a car-coupling, the combination with a draw-bar attached tothecar, of a hollow d raw-head provided with a flaring mouth, pivotedhorizontally to said draw-bar; a spiral spring connected to the top ofsaid draw-bar and to the front of the car, and normally holding saiddraw-head in the horizontal position, and means for pressing down theforward end of said pivoted draw-head against the action of said spring,substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination with a draw-barattached tothe car,of a draw-head pivoted horizontally to said draw-bar, a sprin g normallyholding said draw-head in the horizontal position, a bar R and chain rconnecting said bar to said draw-head and means operated either from theside of or from the top of the car for bearing down on said bar and sodepressing the forward end of said pivoted draw-head, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a link-and-pin car-coupling, the conibination with a draw-barattached to the ear; of a hollow draw-head pivoted horizontally to saiddraw-bar; and means for raising and lowering the forward end of saidpivoted draw-head; a coupling-pin adapted to engage in said draw-head abell-crank lever mounted over said draw-head, and operating` saidcoupling-pin, a chain passing through guides on the draw-head andconnected to said bell-crank lever; a cam connected to and supportingsaid chain, and means for turning said cam in either direction and soeither tautenin g up or slacking oil said chain, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES ,EPPH

YVitnesses:

Il. L. TERRY, JNO. DoYLn.

